Rover Raises Seed Round from BDC, 500 Startups to Expand Product, Bolster Sales

Toronto’s Rover, a location-based mobile marketing startup, has raised $1.1 million in seed financing.

The round included contributions from BDC Venture Capital and Silicon Valley’s 500 Startups, as well as angel investors.

Rover says it will use the new capital to enhance its location-based marketing platform, and strengthen its sales and marketing teams to support growth.

The company added that it will also intensify its hiring efforts in both Toronto and the Bay Area.

“Our vision for the future of proximity marketing goes beyond sales and extends to the customer experience,” said John Coombs, Rover CEO. “To help the market realize the full potential of this technology, we are eliminating hurdles to adoption, putting marketers in the driver’s seat and enabling engaging experiences because that’s what ultimately drives not just ROI, but also loyalty.” 

Since completing the 500 Startups program, Rover says it has increased its client base tenfold and actively engaged more than 7 million customers per month using location.